June 13, 1978: Joe Blyleven steps out of brother Bert’s shadow with Class A shutout

Johannes “Joe” Blyleven, the youngest of seven Blyleven siblings,1 admitted that he didn’t have his older brother Bert’s legendary curveball. Perhaps as a result, Joe didn’t have his brother’s Hall of Fame-level professional success, either. Pitching in the lowest reaches of the California Angels’ minor-league system in 1977 and 1978, he posted a 6-8 record and a 5.56 ERA in 23 games, almost all starts.2

That said, Joe Blyleven could still take pride in making the pros—and, on one night, pitching well enough to earn a shutout. Pitching for the Quad Cities Angels3 of the Class A Midwest League, the 19-year-old righty turned in a neat four-hit whitewash of the Waterloo (Iowa) Indians, a Cleveland affiliate, in the first game of a doubleheader on June 13, 1978. The game lasted seven innings, as is common for games in minor-league doubleheaders.

Unlike his brother Bert—the major leagues’ all-time winningest pitcher born in the Netherlands4—Joe Blyleven was born in Southern California after his family’s relocation there.5 He made enough of a name in high-school baseball to be chosen by the California Angels in the 25th round of the June 1977 amateur draft, during his brother’s only full season with the Texas Rangers.6 His signing was announced on June 15 along with those of eight other free-agent Angels draftees. (Only one of the nine, pitcher Rick Steirer, made the majors.)7 Joe Blyleven was one of 14 sons or brothers of well-known baseball figures who were chosen in the June 1977 draft, with other notable selections including Terry Francona, Terry Kennedy, Ron Roenicke, and Chris Bando.8

Naturally, the young pitcher with the famous name attracted sportswriters’ attention—although their stories sometimes differed. One profile described Joe as “a control pitcher, moving the ball around and keeping it down,”9 while another said that Joe “[relied] mainly on the fastball.”10 Joe made clear that his brother’s signature curve was not in his repertoire: “I’d love to be able to throw a curve like Bert, but then again, so would every pitcher. Bert’s curve is all in the snap of his wrist, and its effectiveness is really something he can’t explain himself.”11

The Blyleven brothers worked out regularly together in California during the 1977-1978 offseason. While Joe tried to deflect comparisons to his brother, he was open about his desire to follow in Bert’s footsteps: “I feel like I’ll be in the major leagues in three years. Right now, though, my goal is to move up to either Salinas, California, or El Paso, Texas.”12

On June 13, 1978, Joe Blyleven found himself in Waterloo, Iowa, as his Angels prepared to play the Waterloo Indians. The home team, led by veteran minor-league player and manager Woody Smith, had been playing strong baseball, but not strong enough for first place. Waterloo entered the doubleheader with a 35-21 record—second-best in the entire league, but 7½ games behind streaking Appleton (43-14) in the Northern Division. Cotton Nash’s Quad Cities team played in the Southern Division, where their 29-26 record gave them a two-game advantage over second-place Burlington.13

Four members of the Waterloo team went on to the big leagues, two of whom appeared in the first game on June 13. Jerry Dybzinski led off and played shortstop, while Juan Bonilla hit seventh and played second base. (A third future big leaguer, outfielder Kevin Rhomberg, appeared in the second game of the doubleheader but not in the first.)14 Starting on the mound was 22-year-old rookie righty Victor Holmstedt. Over the full season, Holmstedt completed 14 of his 25 starts, racking up a 15-6 record and a 3.00 ERA. He finished second in the loop in wins and complete games, third in innings pitched, and fourth in strikeouts.15

Five Quad Cities players reached the major leagues, and three of them made up the heart of the team’s batting order. Third baseman Mike Bishop hit third, first baseman Daryl Sconiers hit cleanup, and designated hitter Brian Harper—a catcher by trade—hit fifth.16 As an 18-year-old second-year player in 1978, Harper led the league with 101 RBIs, and his 24 home runs placed fourth.17 (Harper, incidentally, was later a teammate of Bert Blyleven with the 1988 Minnesota Twins, although Tim Laudner and Tom Nieto caught most of Bert’s starts that season.)

One other person on the field went on to the majors, though only for the briefest of moments. Umpire Randy Bruns, an Iowa native, was spending time at home between the end of extended spring training and the start of a planned season at Rookie-level baseball. When umpire Terry Mann suffered an eye injury, Bruns filled in for the Indians-Angels series, working the basepaths during Blyleven’s shutout.18 He subsequently spent the full season in the Midwest League.19 As a result of the major-league umpire strike at the beginning of the 1991 season, Bruns later that season worked a single game in the majors, umping at second base during the Cincinnati Reds-Houston Astros game on April 8.20

In 1978, though, Bruns filled in in the low minors as a pair of solid offensive teams did battle in Waterloo. Over the course of the season, both teams proved respectable at the plate. Waterloo and Quad Cities both finished in the top half of the Midwest League in doubles, slugging average, and total bases.

But in the first game, only the visiting team’s offense was in evidence. Quad Cities scored the game’s first run in the second inning: Center fielder Greg Ris singled and, one out later, left fielder Steve Van Deren singled him home.21

Holmstedt struggled with his off-speed pitches, and the Angels took advantage. Bishop, whose 19 homers in 1978 tied him with Sconiers for second place on the team behind Harper, hit a solo home run in the third inning. Melvin Quarles22—usually an infielder, but starting in left field—did the same in the fifth inning for a 3-0 Quad Cities lead. Both four-baggers were hit off changeups, according to game coverage.23 Holmstedt worked a seven-inning complete game, allowing only two additional hits, walking none, and striking out four.

If Blyleven made any similar mistakes, he got away with them. Over the first six innings, he allowed only two singles—to Dybzinski and center fielder Venson Davis, a .238 hitter over the full season. Blyleven also issued a walk, and the Angels made two errors behind him, by Sconiers and second baseman Steve Oliva. But available game stories do not mention any serious threats by Waterloo until the seventh and final inning. Only one out away from victory, Blyleven gave up back-to-back singles to Davis and Bonilla.24 He then retired lefty-swinging left fielder John Buszka to complete his shutout in 1 hour and 41 minutes. Blyleven struck out two hitters.

The 731 fans in attendance saw the tables turn completely in the second game. Waterloo hitters pounded two Quad Cities pitchers for 11 hits and eight runs, while the Angels could muster only a single hit off Indians pitcher Jesse Wright. Waterloo finished the season with an impressive 91-46 record, while Quad Cities slipped to 67-70, both second in their divisions. Both teams qualified for the playoffs and were swept in the first round.

The shutout brought Joe Blyleven’s record to 3-4 and was his last professional win. He posted a 5.71 ERA in 10 games with Quad Cities before being sent back down to Idaho Falls of the Rookie-level Pioneer League, where he had pitched the season before. Blyleven made a single appearance there, a start on July 20, where he was shelled for 10 hits and 10 runs in four innings by the Helena (Montana) Phillies and took the loss.25

In April 1978, Joe Blyleven told a reporter that Bert had talked about setting him up with a plumbing business—both to give Joe an outlet if baseball didn’t work out, and to provide Bert with a tax break.26 It turned out to be a successful match. In 2011, when Bert Blyleven was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, his brother Joe was still working in the plumbing business in Anaheim, California.27

Acknowledgments 

This article was fact-checked by Gary Belleville and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources and photo credit

In addition to the specific sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for general player, team, and season data.

Neither Baseball-Reference nor Retrosheet provides box scores of minor-league games, but the June 14, 1978, edition of the Moline (Illinois) Dispatch published a box score. 

Image of 1978 TCMA Quad-Cities Angels card #4 downloaded from the Trading Card Database. (As of January 2022, it was the only card of Joe Blyleven listed in the database.)

Notes

1 Phil Maly, “No Pressure for Blyleven,” Quad-City Times (Davenport, Iowa), April 13, 1978: 21.

2 Blyleven pitched in 12 games with Idaho Falls of the Rookie-level Pioneer League in 1977. The following season he appeared in one game at Idaho Falls and 10 additional games with Quad Cities of the Class A Midwest League.

3 “Quad Cities” is a long-established name for a region that actually encompasses five communities—Bettendorf and Davenport, Iowa, and East Moline, Moline, and Rock Island, Illinois. The Angels played in Davenport.

4 As of May 2023, only five major-league pitchers had been born in the Netherlands. Bert Blyleven’s 287 wins placed him well ahead of the others—Rynie Wolters (19 wins), Rick Van Den Hurk (eight wins), Win Remmerswaal (three wins), and Bill Lelivelt (zero wins).

5 Maly.

6 According to Baseball-Reference, only two players drafted in the 25th round in June 1977 reached the majors—pitcher Pete Ladd and infielder Shooty Babitt. Bert Blyleven was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates after the 1977 season.

7 United Press International, “Busy Day on Trade Market,” Madisonville (Kentucky) Messenger, June 16, 1977: 11. Another of the signings that day was infielder Melvin Quarles, who hit a solo home run in support of Blyleven during his shutout.

8 Jack Lang, “14 Free Agents Reflect Baseball Bloodlines,” The Sporting News, June 25, 1977: 9. Francona and Kennedy were the sons of former players, while Roenicke and Bando were brothers of major-league players.

9 Ron Sutton, “Angels’ Names Familiar—Like Blyleven,” Moline (Illinois) Dispatch, April 13, 1978: 39. In fairness to Sutton, his story and others published in April 1978 were based on a preseason workout day and interview session, not on watching Joe Blyleven pitch in a game.

10 Murray Hancks, “He Just Wants to be Joe,” Rock Island (Illinois) Argus, April 13, 1978: 15.

11 Hancks.

12 Hancks. Salinas was home to another Angels Class A affiliate—the article describes it as “the Angels’ better Class A affiliation”—while El Paso hosted the Angels’ Double-A team.

13 Midwest League standings as printed in the Moline Dispatch, June 13, 1978: 10. The lights-out Appleton (Wisconsin) Foxes were a Chicago White Sox affiliate. The Burlington (Iowa) Bees, Quad Cities’ closest competitors, were a Milwaukee Brewers farm club.

14 The other 1978 Waterloo Indian who subsequently made the majors was pitcher Ramón Romero. He appeared in only one game with the team, spending most of the season with Batavia of the short-season Class A New York-Penn League.

15 Holmstedt had stiff competition: Among the other leaders in each of these categories were future Cy Young Award winner LaMarr Hoyt and future major leaguer Brad Havens.

16 The two 1978 Quad Cities players who reached the majors but didn’t play in Blyleven’s shutout were Brad Havens and Alan Wiggins.

17 Bill Foley of Burlington led the league with 34 home runs, while minor-league vet Moe Hill and future Minnesota Twin Mark Funderburk tied for second with 25 each.

18 Jim Fickess, “Wright One-Hitter Lets Indians Split,” Waterloo (Iowa) Courier, June 14, 1978: 25.

19 According to his Sporting News umpire card, accessed online April 12, 2022.

20 Contract negotiations with regular major-league umpires had just been settled, and the assigned umpires could not reach Cincinnati in time for the game, so Bruns and other temporary replacements filled in. This game marked the major-league debuts of Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell and future no-hit pitcher Darryl Kile. Coincidentally, Terry Mann—the umpire Bruns replaced—had his own cup of coffee in the major leagues, umpiring six American League games between April 26 and May 1, 1995.

21 “Angels Trade Shutouts,” Moline Dispatch, June 14, 1978: 40. Presumably the hitter between Ris and Van Deren, catcher Donny Jones, did something in his at-bat to advance Ris into scoring position, but available game stories do not detail this. Jones was 0-for-3. Holmstedt threw a wild pitch at some point in the game, and this might have figured into the run as well. (All three runs credited to Holmstedt were earned, so Waterloo’s two errors and a passed ball by catcher Jeff Tomski apparently were not factors in the run scoring.)

22 In game stories from 1978, he is identified as Nate Quarles; in Baseball-Reference, he is Melvin Guy Quarles. The United Press International story cited in Note 7 also identified him as Melvin Quarles.

23 Fickess.

24 Fickess mentions that Blyleven allowed two hits with two out in the seventh. The box score indicates that Davis and Bonilla were the only two consecutive Waterloo batters to get hits.

25 Marty Mouat, “Three Five-Run Innings Lift Phillies Over Angels,” Helena (Montana) Independent-Record, July 21, 1978: 7. The Helena Phillies lineup that lit up Blyleven included future Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, as well as future major leaguers Wil Culmer, Bob Dernier, and Ed Hearn.

26 Hancks.

27 Mark Whicker (Orange County Register), “Blyleven Brings 22 Years of Curveballs, Humor to Hall Today,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 24, 2011: D1. A 1985 newspaper profile of Bert Blyleven in the Regina (Saskatchewan) Leader-Post mentioned that the Blyleven brothers’ father, also named Joe, helped his son with the plumbing business.